


Glitter

by apellai



Category: High School Musical (Movies)
Genre: M/M, Makeup, Sappy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-21
Updated: 2017-08-21
Packaged: 2018-12-18 09:30:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11871471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apellai/pseuds/apellai
Summary: Chad and Ryan experiment with makeup.





	Glitter

**Author's Note:**

> thank you to @ectoviolet for this idea!

_ Studying.  _ Yeah, Chad and Ryan are supposed to be studying.

That doesn’t really say much, since they’re flicking paper balls at each other and talking about everything and nothing all at once.

They had unsurprisingly gotten on the topic of theatre in their chattering. Chad seems to talk about it a lot for someone who claims to loathe the concept of acting.

“The costumes?” Chad had asked, curious about how his new…  _ friend _ felt about being covered in glitter and feathers.

“Not really that bad. Usually I get stuck in a suit and fedora, but there is the occasional loincloth or kilt, but those are never too uncomfortable, unless you don’t like being topless. Which, you really shouldn’t have an objection to, considering.” Ryan flicks another wad of paper into Chad’s hair, earning a swear and a light swat to the arm.

Ignoring the comment about being topless, Chad mumbles, “You’re cool with wearing a skirt?”

“A  _ kilt. _ And I wear shorts underneath. … But, you know, I’m not really objected to wearing a skirt either, to be honest,” Chad chokes on his soda, “But I’d have to shave. Hate shaving.”

“... Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Uh,” Chad clears his throat and looks away from Ryan. “What about makeup? You kind of, like, have to wear it, right?”

Ryan shrugs. “Sure, most actors do. Even in movies and stuff. With stage acting, it’s a lot more important because people are seeing you from a distance - so you have to bring out your features and make sure they can see your face. Blush is always a big thing for me, too, Darbus says I look dead without it because I’m so pale.”

“Well, that’s not an issue for me.”

“Hardy-har-har, Chad. Anyway, if you’re playing an older part you’ll be put in old age makeup, which is really just a bunch of lines in different shades of brown. We don’t really wear makeup to be… pretty. We wear it to be  _ seen.” _

“Hmm.”

“... Sharpay wears it to be pretty.”

“There we go,” They both laugh, falling deeper into Ryan’s bed in their attempt to avoid schoolwork at all costs. “Well, uh. Is it uncomfortable?”

“Theatre makeup? Yeah. It’s thick and it’s supposed to stay on under those hot lights. So it sucks to wear, feels really heavy and then when you take it off your skin is all dry and your lips are chapped and it  _ sucks. _ ”

“What about normal makeup?”

“Good makeup feels nice. I don’t wear it all that often, though.”

“But you  _ do _ wear it?”

“Gotta make boys like me  _ somehow.” _ Another moment of laughter before Chad goes deadpan and  _ gazes _ at Ryan. He  _ gazed. _ “... Do you wanna try it?”

“Try what?”

“Putting makeup on. Maybe not on you, but Shar and I are the same foundation shade.”

“Oh, you’re fucking with me,” Chad groans as he rolls his eyes and gets up from the bed. “Let’s just do our homework.”

Ryan makes a noise high in this throat, offended. “You  _ never _ do homework! Come on, it’ll be fun. And if I don’t like it, I can just take it off.”

“I’m not gonna risk poking your eye out for a little  _ fun,  _ Ryan.”

“Shut up, asshole, I know that’s not what you’re worried about.” Ryan puts his hands on his hips in a very Sharpay fashion. “Come on, it’s easy. Just like painting. And if you don’t like doing it we can stop.”

“Ryan.”

_ “Chad.” _

Chad sighs, rolling his eyes again. “Okay. But never again.”

 

They sneak into Sharpay’s room - luckily, she’s out getting her nails done - and Ryan plops down onto her vanity stool like he belongs there. “Make me gorgeous, Danforth.”

“Shut up. What am I supposed to start with?”

“Hmm. Well. Usually, I… think, you should start with moisturizer, but I wear moisturizer all the time anyway. So, Shar starts with her eyes.”

“I think my mom uses foundation first?”

“I guess. Shar says it’s to avoid screwing up her foundation.”

“Do you even  _ need _ foundation? You have, like, perfect sk-”

“Just pick something! I don’t care.”

Chad rifles through the various eyeshadows and blushes before settling on something light pink. “Okay, this is cute.”

“Oh? Chad The Jock thinks something is cute?”

“Oh, buzz off, pretty boy,” he searches around for an applicator. “Uh? Ry?” Ryan grabs a brush from a jewel-encrusted cup and shoves it into Chad’s hand. “Okay. Okay. Close your eyes.” The stroke of Chad’s brush is gentle, afraid that he’ll hurt Ryan’s delicate skin. It’s almost relaxing. “Open.”

Ryan opens his eyes and looks in the mirror - a light dusting of soft pink on his lids make him look a little more feminine, but not noticeably. The way Chad taps the product off the brush is almost natural to him. “Is that it for eyes?” Ryan asks, grinning at the way Chad searches the dresser.

“No, your eyelashes are blond. You need… what’s it called?”

“Mascara?”

“Mascara.”

“It’s almost like you’ve done this before.”

Chad snorts. “Mom kind of put makeup on me when I was a kid. For costumes and stuff. But I don’t know,” he sighs. “This is kind of fun. Should I do mascara before foundation?”

“Foundation first, I think.”

 

A (long)while later, Chad finally picks out a lip product to put on Ryan. “I don’t think you really need lipstick.”

“Why’s that?”

“Your… your lips, they, uh. They’re. Really pink. So gloss should work.”

Ryan chuckles, and lets Chad apply the glittery liquid.

He seems to still, making Ryan open his eyes. “Are you okay?”

“... Yeah. Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Do you wanna stop? I can take it off if you-”

“No! No. I’m fine. Uh, look at yourself, Ryan.” Ryan turns to look at himself in the mirror.

He’s stunned by what he sees.

It seems like Chad has a natural talent for makeup - glitter and shades of pink applied in all the right places, catching the light so he seems to glow. His mascara is just enough to darken his lashes, but not enough to clump and look goofy. His cheeks look like he might have just been kissed, a soft, delicate blush to accompany a touch of glitter on his cheekbones and cupid’s bow. The gloss tops it all off, making him look kiss-drunk and fairylike. “Wow, Chad,” Ryan whispers. “You know, I thought we were just gonna fuck around and I’d end up looking ridiculous. I didn’t expect  _ this. _ ”

“So you like it?” The tone in Chad’s voice is hopeful, nervous, like a kid asking someone on a date for the first time.

“Of course I like it,” Ryan grins at Chad, giving him a gentle push to the shoulder. “You’re really talented.”

“Thanks, Ry.” Chad’s hand lands gently on Ryan’s shoulder. “The lip gloss is a nice touch.” Brown eyes glance oh-so-subtly at Ryan’s lips, before looking away worriedly.

“Chad.”

Chad doesn’t respond.

“I’m not stupid.”

Chad snorts. “Debatable.”

“Pfft- Oh, fuck off. And here I thought we were going to-”

“-To kiss?”

“... Yeah.”

There’s a long pause. Neither boys look at each other. Chad clears his throat. “Well. Nobody… Nobody said we can’t.”

“What?”

“Uh. I wouldn’t mind - that. I wouldn’t mind kissing you.”

Silence.

“You look good in lip gloss.”

More silence.

“... Please don’t kill me.”

And Ryan bursts into laughter. “Why would I  _ kill _ you?!”

“I don’t -” Chad snorts, “I don’t know! You’re an Evans! Rich kids! Y’all are mean!”

“I’m not  _ mean, _ asshole! I’m a delight!”

“Oh, yeah,  _ sure, _ Mr. Sabotage-The-Callbacks-So-He-Can-Get-A-Part!”

“That-” Ryan manages between giggles, “That was Shar’s idea and you  _ know _ it!”

“Sure, sure, sure,” Chad wheezes as he calms down. “Uh, anyway.”

Ryan leans back. “I’m down.” His stomach does backflips as he says it, but it’s stupid - this isn’t his first kiss, Chad’s not his first crush, and  _ Ryan _ was the one to suggest this in the first place, but somehow, he feels like a little boy getting cast in his first part.

They stare at each other for a second, awkward and anxious, before Chad asks, “How do we do this?”

“Well, you’ve kissed a girl before, right?”

Chad looks away again. “Uh…”

“ _ What?  _ Chad, you’re, like, a heartthrob!”

“Thanks,” Chad mumbles, “But I’m also a dipshit.”

Ryan sighs. “Okay. I’ll lead, then.” He puts one hand on Chad’s thigh, close to his knee, and the other on his jaw, half in his hair. He grins. “I love your hair, Chad.”

Chad gives a shy smile back as he rests a hand atop Ryan’s, the other on Ryan’s hip, as they draw each other in - still awkwardly, but they’re teenagers, they’ll live - until their faces are centimeters apart. They can feel each other breathing. It’s strange, but not at all unpleasant, and Chad seems to decide that it’s about time they actually  _ kiss _ , because he crashes their lips together, harsh and nervous at first until Ryan’s hand on his cheek relaxes him.

The kiss is short-lived and chaste, but Ryan still feels it when he pulls away. He and Chad open their eyes at the same time, both smiling silly. “That was nice,” Ryan whispers.

“Yeah.”

“We should do it again.”

“Yeah…”

“But first, Chad?”

“What?”

“The lip gloss was a terrible idea,” he wipes Chad’s lip and pecks him again.


End file.
